Modern baking operations constantly seek to automate the handling of baked products, including the packaging of same, such as by inserting them in bags or the like. This also is an object in handling hot dog rolls which are elongated and frequently are formed in separable clusters in which the rolls are connected in side-by-side relationship with the axes parallel. As presently deposited upon conventional conveyors, the axes of the rolls are parallel to the conveyor which determines the path of the rolls. However, certain popular types of automatic packaging or bagging units require that the axes of the rolls be transverse to the path of movement of the rolls as they are directed to the open mouth of a bag to receive the clusters. Automatic rotation of the rolls about a vertical axes of a cluster of them, or a group of separate rolls in close side-by-side relationship, from one position to a second position such as described above is a problem which is solved by the present invention while the rolls are being conveyed upon the conveyor.
The use of turning mechanisms relative to conveyors is old in various industrial applications. For example, the following patents show examples of the use of "star" wheels to turn objects on a conveyor:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,814,376--Hood, Nov. 26, 1957, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,568--Wellauer, Nov. 17, 1970. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,317,675--DeBurgh, Apr. 27, 1943, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,132--Herts et al., Oct. 10, 1950. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,993--Lingl, Jr., Feb. 24, 1976. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,041--Lowe, Oct. 16, 1979. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,199--Jorgensen et al., Nov. 23, 1976. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,452--Takahashi, Jan. 23, 1973, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,107--Wilson, Nov. 6, 1979, PA1 4,327,826--Wilson, May 4, 1982.
Pallets are rotated relative to a conveyor in:
Parts of layers of bricks are rotated on a conveyor in:
A conveyor having a rotating unit is shown in:
Drums on a conveyor are rotated to orient a filling bung hole relative to a filling spout in:
Rectilinear mechanisms for various purposes relative to conveyors are shown in:
The present invention employs different concepts in conveyor mechanisms from those shown in the foregoing patents which are hereby made of record and copies filed herewith.